Egypt's 'Rebellion' organisers reject gov't meeting

The organisers of the 'Rebellion' campaign against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi announced they rejected a meeting with the Egyptian Interior Ministry over their planned demonstrations on June 30.

Organisers of Egypt's 'Rebel' campaign[2] against President Mohamed Morsi say they have rejected an invitation to meet with Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim regarding planned 30 June anti-government demonstrations.

Mahmoud Badr, one of the campaign's founders, was quoted on the official 'Rebel' website as saying that Ibrahim had contacted campaign members via an intermediary in an effort to set a meeting aimed at coordinating the upcoming protests.

"We rejected the invitation," said Badr, going on to claim that the minister's loyalty was to the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which President Morsi hails.

He also said that the upcoming demonstrations would be peaceful in nature and called on the interior ministry to protect protesters and "stop killing people."

Activists say that heavy-handed police tactics used against protesters during the Mubarak-era have not changed.

The 'Rebel' campaign aims to collect citizens' signatures in support of a withdrawal of confidence from President Morsi.

Organisers say Morsi has failed to achieve the goals of Egypt's 25 January 2011 revolution, including restoring domestic security and narrowing the gap between the country's richest and poorest socio-economic segments.